fjcfarrar

What don't i like !, not keen on the chrome gear knob, will the early leather one fit or maybe a LS400 one or another from the Lexus line up ?

I notice yet another IS with no mud flaps, i wonder if lexus leave them off as an option as they could affect mpg.

so all in all i'm rather excited , cheers for you advise guys :) .

Gearknob is "Titanium" - a (stupid) design feature from when titanium was the new "in" thing. If the car is left in sunshine (dream on) the knob gets hot enough to take the skin off. If you don't change it, keep a jiffy-bag to put over it in the summer! IS300 is a great choice for a car of that age. What it loses in thirst it makes up for with little (if any) need for repair parts, reliabilty and a fine drive.

hi, can anyone tell me, if i take catalytic converter out will it affect on fuel consumption?

Just to this question: No or not enough for you to measure without special eqipment.

The first few miles of a journey from cold use more fuel, your 7 mile commutes will probably get you less mpg than the above figures.

This is very true. If you calculate what the various consumptions quoted in miles per tank posted in this topic amount to: 20 - 24.5 mpg, and maybe worse for a 7 mile commute; the IS300 is going to be a lot thirstier than a Fiesta for the daily run. If just economy controls car choice, the IS300 really isn't the one, but in every other possible way it is a much better car - except that it spoils owners and makes it really hard to go back to crap if they ever have to.

head gasket is problem mainly of wrong use of the driver. When the engine is cold, and without additional heater is the engine cold for long time during cold days, the headgasket can be very easily damaged when pressing too much on accelerator pedal.

In another words, when the engine is cold, the headgasket is not properly pressed between the block and head, and because of very high pressures in the cylinders the headgasket may move.

Sorry, but if a garage told me that my diesel head-gasket had failed because I had thrashed the car from cold, I would suggest they need help or were trying smoke & mirrors on me. If it were true, the country would be permanently littered with broken-down Transit vans.

I have a Lexus is200 LE 2004 Silver. I have had a look for details of the paint code for this model but cant find any - i have found codes for silver but believe there to be multiple shades of this color. the car color description in the lexus book is Kodiak Sky - i have the VIN number but it is 17 charachters long - does anyone know how to decipher the code to see what the paint code for the car actually is?

thanks

Although there are many shades of silver, just the model number is enough in most cases because all the IS200/300LE versions are the same colour (excluding the rare bright yellow on cars sometimes known as Limited Edition).

cheers locky!!!i'm just lucky i can do it all myself,the only thing i didn't do was paint the kit.i've done everything over a year and a half so now its nearly finished 99%(a car is never finished)i can now enjoy driving it and taking it to show's(a few weeks ago i came first in a show and shine)

as for power i've not got a clue,larger intercooler,induction kit(apexi filter),pr0lex manifold,full stainless exhaust and she only ever runs on vpower.

poss around 220 bhp poss more??to be honest i didn't get the charger coz it ups the power i got it coz i love the noise!!its amazing...

Just as a personal opinion, I think that the overall effect you have achieved looks worse than OEM - especially the about-to-fall-off number plate. But, and it is a BIG but; I admire the quality of your workmanship and all the effort you have put into making the car special, individual and to your own requirements plus having genuine performance enhancements - which is helluva a lot more important than pleasing me. A distinctive look is always going to polarise people to either love it or hate it and I am probably in the minority. I look forward to photos as you make it look even worse (to me) with the progress of your modifications and improvements

Is it me, or have we just got back on-topic again? :winky:

Chavs are just people with more money than taste and nothing to do with how they drive. Older, wealthy ones can live behind electric gates and own a big Audi SUV with black windows and chrome alloys. Younger ones aspire to this lifestyle starting with older quality motors polished to within an inch of their life. For formal occasions and Court appearances both wear expensive suits of inappropriate shiny material elegantly cut in the 1960s London Gangster style - often set off by a brilliantly white shirts revealing multiple thick gold chains. Good luck to them! Tastelessness is their free choice and their Right and also serves to give the rest of us a laugh and feel a bit superior.

There is a completely separate group (mainly youngsters) which maybe includes some chavs, who like to hoon about in flash motors with every light ablaze to attract flash girlfriends with quick-release clothes. They don't think they are doing any harm or making driving a bit more dangerous because their minds are elsewhere and anyway thinking is not one of their strengths. They are just A**eholes.

Finally, there are those who know quite well the way they drive and use their lights annoys other drivers, is sometimes illegal and makes the roads a bit more dangerous. They even enjoy doing so and will seek all sorts of spurious justifications for it. Chavs may be included in their number, but there is actually a special name which defines them - which I am not going to write down.

Can anybody please suggest where key-cutting for a IS200 key-blank is available reasonably near Farnborough Hants - not to include places that say they can, but can't when you get there!

Re the switches on the front pillars etc that detect door closure on a friend's IS200LE:-

The wiring in the pillar behind the switches is too short to allow it to be pulled out enough to fit onto a new switch. It only reaches as far as about 2 cm behind the hole. Does anybody know an easy alternative access to the wiring to make this possible?

To be fair I've seen just as many middle-aged and old people driving around in IS200's with their fog lights on, simply because they are too arrogant to turn them off.

CONFESSION TIME When I am driving, despite trying to avoid it; I admit I sometimes do things that are careless, very stupid or annoying. It is even possible that occasionally I might exceed speed-limits (purely unintentionally you understand).

So for me it is a bad idea to make my car into a police-magnet by deliberately setting out to conspicuously (and largely pointlessly) add-to/change/use my car's equipment so as to break piddling regulations & get it noticed - giving Law the finger and multiplying the chances of being nicked for anything I do wrong. Several offences at once make police paperwork much more worthwhile and penalties more inevitable. So far, trying to keep within the Law has worked for me.

Drivers who are more perfect than me and/or whose luck is always on their side probably don't have to bother with such trifles.

Love the post fjcfarrar but non of it applies to me.

I do get the looks you talk about, usauly when i ballon in the car, but as i am now 38 with 5 kids, 7 if you include the 2 i foster,this doesnt happen as often as it used to.

Don't quite get that part of the post. sorry.

Didn't see where you were referred to either by fjcfarrar....in fact he said "we don't know who you are".

Well half of the stuff he posted relates to things i have touched on during this thread. Thedrug dealer tints when i said mine are one shade darker than legal tints. The number plates that get me stopped by police, tyres that are just legal.hids that i have stated i have. I even mention a guy i know who changes half his car before the mot test, I presumed it was an attempt at sarcasm!!!

No attempt to get at any individual because everyone who posts here is decently civilised, and yes sure, bad sarcasm and a lot of tongue-in-cheek. It is just I thought I detected a flavour in some posts of "S*d you, S*d the Law, S*d everyone, I will do as I please" and wonder if that is the way things are moving in general or have I completely turned into Victor Meldrew?

Hi Folks. A Happy New Year to everyone, hope you have a good one.

My problem

With all the bad weather we have had up in Scotland i never used the Lexus and used a Jeep to get about.

The car was parked up for 3 weeks and i only started using it at the week-end, now when i lock the car up using the fob after a few minutes the alarm goes off with no-one near it, i have changed the battery with the spare fob but still the alarm will sound itself.The voltage on the dash is still showing just under 15(im sure this is correct)

Anyone any idea why this alarm which was working fine before the bad weather is now starting to play up.

Thanks.

Happy new year!

Have you had any bad condensation? Damp caused havoc with mine, although I did have a leak from the sunroof which didn't help

Coming to think of it the few days i did go and start the car up i had been dragging clumps of snow into the footwell which basically just turned to ice with the minus freezing temps, back window is misted up aswell.

The door switches that work the interior lights can freeze up and cause this and also sometimes make head-lights stay on when set to auto. They can "stick" making the ECU/Alarm unsure if the doors are still open. Just open each door and work them until the interior light goes on/off as you do so.

Do you own a Lexus (or any other car) like this?

Its got drug-dealer tints just a bit darker than allowed

Its been decat and has a tail-pipe a terrier could get up

Its got number plates that get you stopped

Its got DIY HIDs you don't know how to adjust

Your tyres wear out in under 2000 miles

You always drive with your fogs on because it looks cool

There is quite a range of things you have to change back before each MOT

You don't think you have yet found all the Regs you can break and get away with it

Lots of people admire your car - you can tell by the way they flash you, wave their fists or slowly shake their heads

We don't know who you are - but quite a lot of us know what you are ........

Im running on petrol at the moment and im planning to get a gas conversion any advice or tips??

Lexus is200 auto

Basically don't. You need to be very sure that you will recoup the costs of doing it, plus performance WILL suffer - this is unavoidable but may not be significant. Personally I do not know of anybody who has not had problems with conversions or sourcing the fuel - some with real horror-stories - although I am sure there must be those who are completely satisfied. LPG conversions have been about for over 25 years, and you have to wonder why they haven't really caught on.

It diffidently smoke.. it only start doing this after i dad the plugs re-gap. The smoke last 2 to 3 sec and engine run a bit rough at the same time..

thank 4 ur reply..

Oily smoke is blue but can look white if extreme. To prove the point, hold a piece of clean, thinnish cloth over the exhaust until a stain appears. If this evaporates after a time, it is water. If it smells of fuel and/or is sooty, it is unburnt fuel caused by misfire etc. If it is oily and can be pressed onto a piece of paper - then it is oil.

Oily smoke after just regapping plugs is unlikely.

As suggested, fit new ones of the recommended type. If the plugs needed regapping, they probably needed to be replaced. If regapped because it was misfiring a bit anyway and the new plugs do not cure it; suspect coil-packs/leads.

The Law:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/contents/made

The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 provide

"Reg 27. No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road any vehicle on which any lamp, hazard warning signal device or warning beacon of a type specified in an item in column 2 of the Table below is used in a manner specified in that item in column 3:

Front fog lamp

( a ) Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other persons using the road.

( b ) Used so as to be lit at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility.

( c ) Used so as to be lit when a vehicle is parked.

Rear fog lamp

( a ) Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to the driver of a following vehicle.

( b ) Used so as to be lit at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility.

( c ) Save in the case of an emergency vehicle, used so as to be lit when a vehicle is parked."

Cheers, Dave.

FOG-LIGHTS WHEN THERE IS NO FOG etc:

Some say front or rear fogs can dazzle - particularly rear ones in rain.

Some say their cars have special powers and never will.

Nobody says they make anything better/are a life-saving enhancement more should use. Only that they are pretty!

Everybody knows it is against the law

Some say it is a silly law for other people - a minor offence so they will take their chances.

Some say that about a little shop-lifting. Yes, that is different; but they also say that does no harm & they won't be caught - so perhaps not so very different.

So why do something that might make matters worse for others, never better for them & can get you a fine.

Before i start my rant in reply i dont use my front fog lights at all never have done. drive to road conditions,including vision and you dont need them.

Ok whats the problem with properly set front fog lights being on. Front fog lights are designed to light the road UNDER the fog, therefore point directly outwards/forwards and not at all upwards. If they point upwards they as much use as putting your main beam on in the fog. Therefore unless you drive with your chin on the floor they shouldnt dazzle you.

I would like to see where it says front fogs are illegal, ilegal on what grounds.Cant be illegal on the grounds they dazzle , have you drove with the new Range Rover behind you? try driving a mazda mx5 with a Range Rover behind you. The Range Rover headlights are direct inline with your interior mirror and dazzle like hell. So does this make it illegal to drive a Range Rover?? Properly adjusted lights dont dazzle no one i see loads of cars with them on they dont dazzle me.

As for leds being used it doesnt matter what bulb is in the lamp a light below the bumper is a fog light thats why its below the bumper to light the road under the fog thats the whole point in putting them as low as possible.

Front fog lights are NOT in the mot test I pretty sure if it was illegal to use them they would have some method of testing them to make sure they work correctly!!!

Like some other motoring laws, that regarding fog-lights could seem a bit irrational, but it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to use them in clear conditions - just as sounding the horn in a stationary vehicles or leaving a car on the road with the engine running also is. People can get fined for incorrect use of foglights and regularly do. The real question is why would you want to use them? Fog lights have to be of limited power and must not have a mirrored reflector - although that could help by providing beam cut-off. They shine under fog with an uncontrolled beam that only reaches out 2-3 meters supposedly to enable you to creep along in a pea-souper & contribute nothing whatever to normal driving. Without an indicator in the car, you would have to get out to tell if they were on. The real problem is that many who use them all the time also convert them to HID or higher wattage sources to match the headlights, ensuring they dazzle as many as possible when their intention is just to look "cool" and bravely risk breaking the law. They are today's illegal equivalent of go-faster stripes. Doubtless when DRLs become common, the same sad people will find ways to make them a nuisance too.

i guess it depends what sort of foglights you have, the standard ones are quite bright. but i swapped mine to LED's to match my HIDs and while the light output from the LED foglights matches them perfectly, they produce absolutely no light on the road because they dont give the right light pattern for the type of reflector in the unit. so all they are good for is DRLs, but because of this same reason, id struggle to dazzle anyone unless they were to get on their hands and knees infront of the car. lol

so whats the biggest issue with foglights being on? is it that its hazardous to other drivers because of excessive light? or just because you think it looks naff?

Unfortunately converted foglights cannot qualify as DRLs because their height above the ground defines them as lights to only be used in conditions of reduced visibility due to fog. Running with either front or rear foglights in clear conditions is illegal - and worse than that lumps you in with those the police would love to persecute and other drivere recognise as nobs.

Lol that's the only good thing about the exhaust- it drowns out the tractor noise.

What do you recomend doing mate, should I try a diffrent oil? If it is wrong clearences how would this be resolved? It's driven pretty happily like it for 3.5k now so surely if it was oil starvation the engine would have been curtains by now?

By oil-starvation I mean reduced oil feed. This can be caused by partial blockages or lowered oil pressure caused by general bearing wear elsewhere. You can check if it is this sort of problem by pouring in half a litre of oil and starting the engine while the top end is still drenched in oil. If this briefly shuts up the noise it gives a clue where the problem lies. You will probably have to drain off the excess oil afterwards. Whatever the cause which could even include running on low oil in the car's past, I doubt if there is a cheap solution.

i was driving home last night and my car started to have a judder/wobble from n/s/r doing about 40mph, i pulled over thinking its a flat tyre but tyre was fine, it also seemed to judder on tickover being stationary! can any1 please help thanks luke

A bit of a shot in the dark, but it is worth checking the engine mounts if it also is a bit shuddery at tickover - loose/perished engine mounts can cause some strange effects when driving.

It's always sounded like this mate I've put around 3.5k on the clock- I've always known it was there just only recently started paying attention to the noise.

No lights on dash no, I haven't checked the plugs to be honest no. If it makes any difference there is no misfire or hesitation and the car pulls well and doesn't feel down on power.

It sounds like a bag of nails - with a good IS200 at tickover you should just hear the belts running and maybe the alternator whirring. The noise seems to be from valve-gear and is probably wear/wrong clearances/oil-starvation to the cam-assemblies. It is worth checking it out - but if it is just general wear, it can rattle on for years like that. I don't suppose it is noticeable when driving above the ar***ole's exhaust that someone has fitted.

Hi Guys,

Merry Christmas to everyone first of all.

I am going to look at a 2001 IS300 tomorrow which has 59,000 miles on the clock with a FLSH. I am knew to this particular model and have read horror stories about the poor fuel consumption - being at around 20 - is this correct? I was looking at a Jaguar X type 3 litre which I discounted for several reasons included the poor mpg.

I am using the car to do my daily commute to work which is 7 miles each way. I currently have a Ford Fiesta which on £40 gets me about 250 miles to a tank - what do you reckon I should expect to get from the IS300.

Is there anything which I need to look for when going to see the car tomorrow and do you feel it would be wise to get a warranty with this?

Cheers for your advice.

Nick

All combined cycle mpg:

Fiesta 1.6 Duratec 42.8mpg

IS200 Manual 28.8 mpg

IS300 Auto 26.2 mpg - they are all auto.

These official figures might not be what is achieved in the real world, but are a like-for-like comparisons. The difference in the driving experience is like the difference between drinking meths and single malt whisky.

Going to replace my cabin/pollen filter tomorow on my 2001 is200 se. Am i right in thinking its in the glovebox and if so how is it acessed and removed/ replaced?

Cheers

IS200 LE Versions: Don't look for a pollen filter because it doesn't have one - and more important, don't pay for one when it is serviced.

My IS250 SE-L is going in on Monday to have the new master cylinder seal changed out, as the replacement parts arrived today. I was told the problem occurred only in Russia due to a combination of extreme cold temperatures and softening of the elastomer seal by the brake fluid. The seal can rotate/twist so fluid bypasses, and makes the braking less effective or total loss. Should take about an hour to replace.

Also true of the USA where literacy is not universal, so they happily pour in non-specified brake fluids which have the same effect. A similar act to their Lexus Dealers fitting unsecured aftermarket mats that get stuck under the accelerator pedal.

Hello all

Here in the IOM like elsewhere in the UK theres been snow and ice, Its my IS250s first winter in my care, and Im nervous. I was out yesterday and I couldnt back out of my dads drive (slight incline and not very well surfaced) without a push! There wasnt even that much snow. (When it was just wet once i had a lot of wheelspin!) Anyway the journey home was successful in snow mode and taking it very sensibly. The traction control light was on and off quite a bit. There were a few moments where I wasnt sure if I was going to continue in a straight line...

Ive seen people suggest putting extra weight over the back wheels so might try that to improve traction.

Anybody else had experience in the snow with the 250 and its auto...

MW

Like all cars with reasonable power and fattish tyres, the IS 250 is poor in snow unless you fit winter/snow tyres. This is a pain and expensive. The cheaper and better solution is to borrow, buy or hire an old Corsa or anything similarly light with skinny tyres and not much much power to use in snow. Much less bother and easier to store than a set of wheels/tyres.